"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future"
-Paul L. Boese-
"No, scream 2 is the worst one. I told you that on Saturday" Maya argues as her and Spencer ride the elevator together. "Scream 2 was longer than any of the other movies" Reid states. "The killers were bullshit. I mean, come on- His mom?! And nobody even knew that other guy" Maya argues as Reid starts to flip through a case file. The elevator dings and opens up allowing Reid and Maya to walk out.
"You're smart Reid but not smart enough" Maya jokes as she sees Emily and JJ walking towards them. "Hey, where have you been? I wanted to do brunch this weekend" JJ stops but it seems Reid isn't in the mood to talk. "I had deal with a bunch of mom stuff. Where's Garcia?" Reid asks walking right past her. "She's with Rossi" JJ says before her, Maya and Emily stop in the doorway of BAU.
"Hm, he hates you" Maya observes and Emily quietly laughs. "Em" JJ warns, and Emily covers her mouth quickly. "Maybe, he does" JJ mumbles as she watches Reid walk away. "I don't blame him" Maya shrugs before she pushes past JJ and walks into round table.
"Hey, pretty lady" Derek greets as he spins his chair around, greeting Maya with a smile.
"Hello, Agent Morgan" Maya sighs as she takes a seat next to him and notices they're still waiting for Garcia, Hotch and Rossi. "So" Derek starts off as he turns his chair in Maya's direction. Maya furrows her eyebrows in confusion and locks eyes with Derek.
"How about after work. Me and you get drinks" Derek suggests and Maya tilts her head to the side.
"Alcoholic drinks?" Maya asks. "That's the only drink I like" Derek jokes but he seems to be serious. "Hm, and if we finish work too late?" Maya asks again and Derek seems to have an answer for everything, "I know a bar open all night long" Derek answers and Maya narrows her eyes at Derek who doesn't take his eyes off of her. It felt weird but Maya felt comfortable under his gaze.
"Co-workers aren't supposed to have personal relations" Maya deflects and notices Derek perk up in his seat. "I didn't know we were having those" Derek says as Maya clears her throat nervously, but before she could say anything Garcia and Rossi start to enter the room arguing over the Italian food, pasta.
"I am having a Fellini festival at my house this weekend and I must serve the beautiful food of his country" Garcia rants as she sets down her pasta and tablet on the round table. "Maybe you should show a Disney film and stick with burgers" Rossi jokes making Maya chuckle softly.
"You know, Rossi, you could always give Penelope a cooking lesson" Derek suggests which makes Garcia gasp while Rossi gives Derek an angry and kind of annoyed look.
"That would be amazing. That would be like- That would be like the iron chef meets the BAU. And we could do it at your house" Garcia suggests making Rossi scoff. "I don't have a house; I have a mansion" Rossi states. "Why don't you share some of that money, Mr. Big-shot" Maya jokes which makes Derek chuckle.
"All right let's get started" Hotch orders as he enters the room. Garcia informs the team that the bodies of two young women were recently found in rural Oklahoma. The women had been sexually assaulted and blinded with sulfuric acid. Both had blonde hair and blue eyes. Garcia also notes that, months ago, prostitutes had been raped and stabbed in the eyes.
"So, he staples their eyes open and then proceeded to blind them" Maya notes as she looks through the file laid out in front of her. "It must be about power and control" Derek adds.
"Maybe he didn't want them to watch while he hurt them" JJ adds on and Maya nods her head, taking in all ideas, what could've drove the unsub to do this. "His face is the last thing they see before darkness" Rossi declares which slowly starts to bring the mood down in the room but they know what they have to do.
"What's with this photo?" Maya asks as she pulls out a photo of the victim Beth and turns out the photo was taken while she was at bank, and it was taken 3 hours before she disappeared. "Yeah, she wasn't found in these same clothes" Maya notices, showing the picture of her at the bank and one when her body was found.
"Maybe he changed them because hers were burned by the sulfuric acid" Rossi explains. "But why would he care that much? He's already putting them through a lot of pain" Maya states as she looks around for answers.
"What about that prostitute? How long ago was she found?" Reid asks Garcia who's on the video cam ad she responds with two months. "He must've practiced with low-risk victims. People no one would care about" JJ suspects. "He's probably practicing on surrogates before going after the real object of his rage," Rossi notes.
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Once the team arrives in town, Maya joins Emily and Derek to check out the dump sites. "Beth's body was found over there" The detective informs as they start walking towards the dump site. "It stinks of... urine" Maya sniffs before waving her hands around to get rid of the smell. "Thought that was air freshener" Emily jokes and Maya chuckles as she shakes her head.
"There's drugstore food everywhere" Derek notices. "What's that supposed to mean?" Maya asks. "It's a homeless corridor" Emily finishes and Maya nods her head slowly as she starts to understand their logic.
"Abby was found in a shantytown as well" The detective adds. "The unsub must think since the area is so bad, the police could care less about a death like that. It also might be why he puts clothes on them. It's so they blend in with the area they're being dumped in" Maya explains and Derek nods his head, agreeing with every word she says.
"This guy's either homeless or appears to be because he hunts and travels just to dump these victims. Anyone who sees him, must think he's a part of the area" Derek adds as he rests his hands in his pocket and him, Emily and Maya continue to inspect the area of the dump site.
"So, you going to go on that date?" Emily asks as Maya wears her surgical gloves while searching through some trash on the ground for any possible evidence. "What date?" Maya asks as she raises her to her feet, looking to Emily with confusion while she shields her eyes from the bright sun. "Oh, come on. How about after work me and you get drinks" Emily mocks Derek from his suggestion earlier.
"He asked me for drinks. I didn't give an answer yet" Maya says. "So, you've thought about it?" Emily asks leaving Maya speechless as she looks to Derek who speaks with the detective alone.
"I thought you were supposed to be dead" Maya states, trying to bring the attention off of her but it was clear Emily knew exactly what she was doing. "Oh, don't you do that" Emily says as Maya starts walk away from her, but Emily just continues to follow.
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Later, the team had soon found the poor girl from the bus stop. Her tongue has been burned with a chemical and her body dumped in a homeless area- the latter part just like the other recent victims.
The team then gives its profile to the cops. The killer is likely a white male- maybe a maintenance worker with access to chemicals. He was rejected by a woman in the '80s. "The unsub's fixation on this woman is all consuming," Emily says.
That same day, JJ confronts Reid, explaining that he's upset because Emily and JJ were able to fool him when faking Emily's death. "Listen, I have a lot going on alright" Reid states, trying to stop the conversation but JJ wants to resolve it.
"You know what I think it is?" JJ asks loudly making Maya turn her head in their direction. "You're mad that Hotch and I controlled our micro-expressions at the hospital, and you weren't able to detect our deception" JJ argues.
"You think this is about my profiling skills?" asks an incredulous Reid, who cried to JJ after Emily's supposed death.
"I trusted you!" Reid shouts, grabbing everyone's attention. "Reid" Emily calls out, but Reid leaves the room, not wanting to be calmed down by someone who he felt has betrayed him.
_____
Later, Maya finds JJ alone and it's clear JJ isn't in the right headspace as she looks blankly at the wall while standing in front of the coffee pot. "Should I pour that for you... or will you just stare at it?" Maya asks as she walks up beside JJ, kind of startling her. JJ clears her throat and grabs the handle of the coffee pot but can't find herself able to pour the coffee out.
"Okay, JJ" Maya calls out as she places her hand on JJ's and releases her hand off the coffee pot handle. "What's wrong?" Maya asks as she sees JJ's eyes clouded with tears that just won't escape. "I keep rethinking that night and wondering if I made the right decision" JJ answers as she breathes heavily. "About Emily?" Maya asks to which JJ nods her head.
"I'm sure, at the time it was the right idea. Emily was in danger, and she needed to get out for a while" Maya explains. "Why can't Reid see it that way?!" JJ exclaims and Maya just smiles, "Reid doesn't see the world like we do. Sometimes, you have to see it from his point of view. You belittled his profiling skills. He was upset because he thought a lost a friend when he really didn't. He felt betrayed" Maya states, understanding both sides of the story.
"You just have to understand that there's two sides of every story" Maya reassures before she grabs the coffee pot and pours JJ some coffee to bare JJ of the stress.
In the office, the team continues to go over the case trying to find the right pieces of the puzzle. They know if the unsub is soon going after the real target, it would have been a woman who's very close to him to make him react and go through such brutal measures. Reid enters the room and thinks that the team isn't dealing with the typical homeless person. Reid theorizes that the unsub might be mentally challenged to a point.
"He might be smart enough to use his disability as an advantage," says Reid, noting that it might be a way to get naïve women to trust him. The team decides to check halfway houses that were open in the '80s for matching residents. But they better hurry.
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The next day, the team then gets a report of the latest missing girl, Tammy Bradstone. She didn't return from homecoming which was last night. Why didn't Tammy, assuming she was assaulted, scream and alert her friends? Tammy must've known the victim. Derek and Maya, meanwhile, searches Tammy's room.
"Thinking about my offer?" Derek asks as Maya looks around Tammy's room and the items she has in them.
"Oh, you mean the one with drinks" Maya states. "Come on, why you got to be hostile?" Derek asks as he looks to Maya. "I'm not being hostile. I'm keeping my options open" Maya answers making Derek sigh as he looks away.
"If you don't want to go out with me, that's all you have to say" Derek says and Maya looks to Derek who genuinely looks upset that Maya hasn't given him a clear answer and she can't help but feel kind of bad that she's made him feel this way.
"It's not that I don't want to go out with you" Maya declares before clearing her throat. "It's been a while since I've been out... with one other person" Maya stammers over her words, not wanting to call it a date because that would hint that she thought it was a date when it probably was just a normal hangout.
"You mean a date?" Derek asks and Maya sighs.
"Yes. It's been a while since I've been on a date" Maya answers, not so proudly at all. She's a beautiful girl but when guys learn she's an FBI agent they seem to get this fear in them. "I can't see why" Derek compliments and Maya shakes her head as she looks away from Derek while fighting the urge to smile.
Derek continues to look around the room when he spots something in the trash, and it turns out to be hair dye. Blonde, to be exact. He then learns that Tammy wore the same homecoming dress that her mother wore in high school, so she dyed her hair to look like her mother. Emily, who decided to come along and interview the parents of Tammy, then learns from Matt that Uncle Cy, who once stayed at a halfway home, is mentally unstable and basically homeless. The pieces begin to fall into place.
"What happened with you and Cy that made him so angry?" Emily asks Lyla. Ashamed, Lyla tells a story about getting drunk at homecoming and playing spin the bottle. Well, the bottle landed on Cy, so she reluctantly went into the closet with Cy. "I let him feel me up," Lyla cries. "Later, he heard me tell a friend how gross he was."
When Cy found out that his brother and Lyla were having marital problems in the last few months, he began to have new, super-creepy hope. Lyla then notes that Cy often stops at a nearby coffee shop before coming over. Emily suggests that Lyla leave Cy a message at the café.
Later, Cy calls back Lyla. Shaking, Lyla answers the phone. "Matt got arrested," the mother says. "They think he hurt Tammy. My God, Cy. I need you to hold me." Cy is ecstatic. He quickly goes to his brother's house and embraces Lyla.
Rossi, Maya and Derek soon race onto the lawn with guns drawn. "Cy Bradstone! FBI! Put your hands where I can see them!" Derek orders as the three of them ambush him with their guns pointed right at him. "Get on your knees!" Maya orders as she watches Cy look to Lyla with betrayal. "How could you do this to me!?" Cy screams as Maya pulls his arms behind and handcuffs them.
Back at the station, Rossi and Hotch interrogate Cy. "Tammy's not the one you want to hurt Cy," Rossi says. Cy agrees to reveal Tammy's location but only under one condition. And that condition? Cy wants to talk to Matt. So Matt is brought into the interrogation room, where Cy admits to dipping Tammy's fingertips in sulfuric acid.
Cy then begins laughing hysterically, telling his brother that Tammy is being held in the same place where, long ago, Cy told Matt that he "got to second base" with Lyla. So, the team heads to the old rural homestead where the brothers grew up and find Tammy, still in her dress, with mutilated hands.
"Come on" Maya mumbles as she feels Tammy's pulse. "She's alive. She's alive! We need a medic!" Maya shouts. Fortunately, the girl will live. Case closed.
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On the jet ride home, Maya takes a seat across from Derek who has his headphones. "Hey, pretty lady. Come to turn me down?" Derek asks jokingly as he removes his headphones. "No, I came to tell you I accept your offer" Maya states. "I'll go have drinks with you" Maya states as Derek leans forward in his seat. "How about we go somewhere else tonight" Derek suggests making Maya furrow her eyebrows in confusion.
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"Cooking is the most sensual art form" Rossi teaches. Derek decided that him and Maya just go to Rossi's instead for a cooking lesson. "So, your hands must be the brushes" Garcia adds and Rossi stops her from interrupting making Maya chuckle as she lifted her glass of wine. "In a pot of boiling water, we cook our spaghetti until it's Al Denete, firm to the tooth" Rossi says as he passes spaghetti noodles around to everyone to feel the texture.
Maya feeds Derek the noodle making her burst out into the laughter as he over exaggerates the taste of the noodle. "Shh" Rossi orders and Maya covers her mouth as Rossi continues teaching until the doorbell is heard and Derek goes to answer.
"Sorry, I'm late" Reid greets as he enters the kitchen. "Yeah. And this is why I cook alone" Rossi states as he mixes the spaghetti noodles with onions and other ingredients. "Can I drink the wine now? I'm tired of smelling it" Maya says and Rossi smiles while he nods his head, and everybody cheers as they raise their glasses.
"Cheers" Derek says as he sips his wine and locks eyes with Maya through the glass.
"Yeah, yeah. Cheers to you too" Maya jokes before she looks away from Derek as heat rises to her cheeks. Everyone's happy. Drinking wine. All is apparently forgiven with the team.
"Forgiving someone is easy, but being able to trust them again is a totally different story..."
-Unknown-